Robbinsville, county sanitation staff weigh new approach to commercial pickup and past-due bills

Brady, an account manager with the county sanitation department, told the Robbinsville Town Council that the townʼs most recent monthly sanitation invoice was $1,656 and that a few months remain past due after a prior arrears bill was paid. He said the county now uses a Wednesday commercial-only pickup as a benchmark to distinguish commercial tonnage from residential, because residential collections are not billed.

The change, Brady said, came after a summer audit of what the county considered commercial loads; he described the new arrangement as a way to avoid charging residential customers. “So your county businesses or your contractors… go across the scales and do a direct invoice or payment,” Brady said, explaining how commercial tonnage is measured and invoiced.

Council members pressed for options to recover unpaid costs and avoid subsidizing commercial trash: establish a formal fee or contract for businesses, charge only participating commercial accounts, or create a separate municipal sanitation fee. One council member noted that if the town absorbed unpaid commercial charges it could be an extra roughly $1,600 per month and estimated up to about $20,000 a year in certain months. The council discussed charging $60 per dumpster pickup as one straightforward billing mechanism for businesses that want regular service.

Several members urged the town to assemble the underlying tickets and invoices so staff can confirm which businesses were charged, which months are outstanding and how prior arrangements were implemented. The county representative offered to supply copies of the hauling tickets and account statements; council members agreed staff should reconcile the townʼs records with the countyʼs and consider a policy to tie commercial pickup to payment. “If they donʼt pay, we donʼt pick it up,” a council member said during the exchange.

The council did not adopt a formal ordinance or fee that evening but asked staff to prepare supporting documentation, including a list of businesses affected and the monthly billing history, and to return with recommended policy options for inclusion in the upcoming budget process. The town also discussed the operational trade-offs of creating a dedicated sanitation crew versus contracting commercial pickup, noting the potential for added fuel and labor costs if pickups are split between residential and commercial days.

What happens next: staff will reconcile county tickets and town billing records, and the council will consider a formal policy or fee when working through the budget.